


The Measure of a Love

by volta_arovet



Category: Othello - Shakespeare
Genre: Blank Verse, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-24
Updated: 2009-12-24
Packaged: 2017-10-05 03:49:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/37499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/volta_arovet/pseuds/volta_arovet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Emilia and Desdemona have differing opinions on the characteristics of a good husband.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Measure of a Love

**Author's Note:**

  * For [athousandwinds](https://archiveofourown.org/users/athousandwinds/gifts).



EMILIA  
Come now, my lady, sit thee in this chair  
And rest here so that I may rest as well.  
These changes in the weather tax my soul  
And I can not stand idly anymore.

DESDEMONA  
What weather is this? There is not a storm!

EMILIA  
A storm of sighs which gust about this room  
Unfairly cause my skirts to billow round,  
So share the private pain that plagues your heart  
That my privates may stay properly clothed

DESDEMONA  
A bawdy joke for so noble a cause

EMILIA  
Aha! There is a cause! Now rightly sit  
And say the name that causes you to blush

DESDEMONA  
To seek the hand of one my father picks  
Would be my duty, for I love him so,  
And trust his judgment, as a daughter should,  
And yet--

EMILIA  
And yet?

DESDEMONA  
It is a virtue if a man is brave

EMILIA  
A virtue, yes, but better to be wise  
And thus avoid the foolish dangers where  
A brave man never pauses in his step  
And swiftly springs the trap which one has laid

DESDEMONA  
Then brave and wise, in equal parts, is he  
The man I speak of--not a man, say I,  
For as I said, I trust my father's eye, not mine,  
And speak but of a dream in a man's form.  
But brave and wise, and highly ranked as well--

EMILIA  
Ensigns over Generals, I say  
For generals will lead men to the charge  
And thus are the first at the arrow's point  
And first on the field, and first away from home.  
Nay, give me one of ensign's rank who'll stay  
Safely tucked into the battle's side  
And safely at mine when the battle's done.

DESDEMONA  
Agree, at least, that he be fair of face  
And strong of arm, and straight of back, and tall

EMILIA  
A man's good looks can only grow with age,  
A dash of gray upon a nobly lined brow,  
While ours shall bruise when grasped by cruel time's hand.  
I choose a man always less fair than I  
So that his eye be less inclined to rove.

DESDEMONA  
You prefer that he be jealous of thee, instead?  
But as I say it, it holds a small charm  
To be loved so dearly, held so closely,  
He could not help but think that other men  
Would try their best to hold me just the same.

EMILIA  
It sounds an inconvenience, such a love.

DESDEMONA  
And what an inconvenience? Love is such a thing?  
The manner of the man which you describe  
A not-too-daring, not-too-noble,  
Not-too-handsome, not-too-loving,  
Not-too-anything! Would such a man  
Truly inspire any heart to love?

EMILIA  
When passions fade, as passions always do,  
I seek a man who'll match me in my stride,  
Who'll trust me in his plans, and I in his,  
And trust that if a man's lips brush my hand  
Infidelity shall not soon follow.  
A man whose principles are good, but then  
Not so much that he would break, not bend,  
When buffeted with winds of cruel misfortune.  
I seek a man who would, in good years hence,  
Remain a friend to all, and liked by all,  
And live a life in comfort and in peace.

DESDEMONA  
I try to see the wisdom of your words  
But such a love would leave me colder still.

EMILIA  
Then let us make a bet, my pretty friend:  
You chase your sort of love, and I chase mine,  
And twenty, thirty, fifty years from now  
We shall compare our lives, and smartly count  
The days of happiness, and days of grief,  
And see which one of us was in the right.

DESDEMONA  
As your friend, I would wish to lose that bet

EMILIA  
And I the same, so let us aim to tie  
And end our days with equal joy in hand.


End file.
